I’m back to work, back to feeling great, and back to tasting food again! It was a little rough after my first round of chemo…but not as bad as I was expecting…and Hey, I had constant help around me to bend to my every whim. (Hope I wasn’t too obnoxious).
I got all of my chemo via IV drip. I showed up to the hospital with my entourage, mom & Eddie…card games and laptop in tow. Then I was informed that I was only allowed one visitor. After some firmness from me and many statements that they should let people know the rules ahead of time, yada yada yada – they caved and all was well in the world again. They started me off with Benadryl to help counteract any allergic reactions I might have. We got through one round of cards and I was done. The Benadryl knocked me out. I woke up when she was administering the Red Devil. It is so RED! It looks like some pretty potent Hawaiian Punch. I haven’t had that stuff for such a long time! I had to munch on ice cubes and keep my fingers in a container of ice as well. This helps with nerve damage – Lovely ; ) I have to say that that was the worst of it. I was freezing with my hands in that ice!
Afterwards we went over to Olive Garden for my favorite – Chicken Scampi and Minestrone soup. I didn’t even get to the Scampi. The soup and salad…and er, breadsticks…filled me up - but no worries, I took care of the scampi over the next 3 days! Waste not, want not! It was fabulous!
I kept waiting for the horror to occur but I really didn’t have any major issues…well, a little one but I’ll get to that in a minute. I experienced some nausea but I love food way too much to lose any of it. I was pretty sore up and down my spine but I’d been lying around for almost a week. I figured I was getting bed sores from the laziness. I tried to be good. I would wake up for about 10 minutes every once in a while and cruise the house – just to say that I was making the effort of keeping in shape.
I received a Neulasta shot the day after my chemo. It was no big deal. They said that if my counts were low, it would kick in and help produce more white cells…I might feel some pain in my hips. The days were passing and no hip pain…just spine pain. I was raised to not take any medicine unless it was necessary. I was taking the anti-nausea medicine but that was it. I was waiting for the hip pain but that wasn’t happening. All of the naps were taking their toll on me too ; ) My hours of alertness tended to be around 4:00 am. If you find yourself awake at this time there is a cable channel called Cooking Network. It’s just like Food Network but has many shows that I’ve never seen before. I was having a great time.
Wednesday at 4:00am I woke up and drank some juice and flipped on the Cooking Network. I had taken 2 senacot the night before – they are to keep the going great. Well, between the senacot and the juice, I unleashed all hell. Over the next 12 hours I was a human faucet…and I started to spike a fever. Doctor said to head to the ER.
Of course by the time I got there I didn’t have a fever. I didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes in the waiting room. That’s the benefit of having a compromised immune system. I had to wait for a bed for probably 15-20 minutes but to me it felt like 2 hours...the cool linoleum floor was looking very appealing to me. Once I had a bed I learned that not everyone is allowed to access my port for the IV drip…and pain medication most importantly.
Finally an angel sent from the chemo ward or something arrived. She was amazing and caring and able to access my port. They gave me Dilaudid and the world was once again AMAZING. Within about 20 seconds my pain was completely gone. The spine pain & stomach pain was pretty unbearable but the dilaudid reduced it to nothing. Eventually I was moved to my own room on the oncology floor. It was small and dark and I loved it. I had the most amazing nurses and I’m ashamed that I don’t remember all of their names. I slept around the clock and had dilaudid every 4 hours. Life was bliss. I told the doctor I didn’t want to go home – keep me as long as possible. I was sleeping and comfortable and all the things that I wasn’t at home. It was my mini vacation – all for $100.00 (my deductible). All was good. I think I literally slept for 3 days straight. I never even turned the TV on. On day 4 I awoke with lots of energy…the TV went on, I finally took a shower, and they kicked me out.
Here’s a little clip from Wikipedia on the wonder-drug Dilaudid: “It is thought to be 8-10 times stronger than morphine, but with a lower risk of dependency. In addition, it usually proves to be the first alternative of choice to morphine in severe chronic pain.” Heck yeah – It was definitely my first choice compared to the Vicodin that was also offered.
I'm Back!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Posted by Jenn at 6:48 PM
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